Ramiro Valdés, a former Cuban vice president who spent decades near the center of the Castro government, died at 94, CBS News reported Sunday, June 22, 2026. South Florida leaders — home to one of the largest Cuban exile communities in the country — responded to the news.
Valdés was among the longest-surviving figures of Cuba’s 1959 revolution. He served in senior government posts across multiple decades, including as interior minister and later as a vice president under Raúl Castro. His tenure oversaw state security apparatus operations that drew intense criticism from human rights organizations and exile groups.
Reaction from South Florida, where Cuban-American political figures have long tracked events in Havana closely, came quickly after the announcement. CBS News reported that local leaders weighed in, though the specifics of those statements weren’t immediately detailed in the initial report.
The death of a figure like Valdés carries particular weight in Miami-Dade County, where Cuban exiles and their descendants have shaped local politics for generations. His name has long appeared on lists of officials held responsible for repression on the island — a point exile advocates have pressed for years without any formal international accountability.
No official cause of death was reported by CBS News as of Sunday morning.
